A pair of UNLV graduates, Sarah Galera and Sophia Lorenzana, are helping preserve the Wetlands through a tree monitoring project with Clark County. 

When Sophia Lorenzana took an ornithology class at UNLV as an undergraduate student, she never imagined it would spark a love for one of the area’s most underrated natural resources: Wetlands Park.

A unique feat for a father and daughter here in Las Vegas, finishing school at the same time with perfect 4.0 GPAs. Ebenezer Belete graduated with his PhD from UNLV while his daughter, 16-year-old Tracy Belete, graduated from high school.

The land-based casino industry has fallen behind when it comes to using artificial intelligence, but the potential is there to transform gaming and the guest experience.
 

Regeneration has long been the stuff of science fiction. At UNLV, researchers are now studying frogs that can regrow their eyes in days — work that could bring that idea closer to reality for human patients.

Regeneration has long been the stuff of science fiction. At UNLV, researchers are now studying frogs that can regrow their eyes in days — work that could bring that idea closer to reality for human patients.

Whenever another development threatens to push farther into the Mojave, the same words appear: beige, barren, empty, wasteland. But the Mojave Desert, which includes Las Vegas, is anything but. More than 50 mammalian species wander its foothills, more than 200 species of birds cross its skies, and more than 2,000 species of plants endure its extended droughts and blistering heat. It’s home to the Joshua tree, found nowhere else on Earth.

Candida auris presents ongoing challenges for Nevada’s healthcare facilities. In 2025, the Silver State on its own accounted for 22% of the nation’s nearly 7,200 C. auris cases — reporting 1,605 infections to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and outpacing California’s roughly 1,550 cases and Texas’ 830. When adjusted for population, Nevada logged 20 times more cases per capita than its coastal neighbor.

Every hospital has drains. Sinks, toilets, floor gullies in procedure rooms, the slow trickle from IV lines flushed between patients. For years, all of that went down the pipes and nobody thought much about it. But researchers at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas have spent the better part of four years paying very close attention to what hospitals are washing away, and what they’ve found in Southern Nevada’s sewer lines is, by any measure, alarming: a drug-resistant killer fungus circulating through healthcare facilities months before a single patient tests positive.

UNLV-led research team uses wastewater surveillance to suss out C. auris strains with greater precision, paving way for potential new therapeutic development

The Class of 2026 includes graduates from 34 states and U.S. territories and 62 countries. Of the graduates, 87% are Nevada residents, with 67% coming from ethnically diverse backgrounds. Nearly half of all students are the first in their family to earn a degree.

Six out of 3,700 students were recognized this week by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) as Outstanding Graduates, including Fallon’s own Kelli Kelly, who is graduating with a master’s degree in urban leadership.